Inspired Youth Programme SA 2016

I spoke to 400 young future South African leaders, 100 being private schooled and the remainder from our public school

05 April 2016 | Press Release

Greg Secker Foundation - Inspired Youth Programme SA

Three weeks ago, I spoke to 400 young future South African leaders, 100 being private schooled and the remainder coming from our public school system. It is an initiative called Inspired Youth SA - with the subject of “The time is now!”.

It’s always nice to hear that people would think that I have the experience and skills to chat to SA’s future leaders and when I was approached my initial reaction was “awesome”.

Then I woke up the next day, filled with nerves. Thinking...

“Why me?” Here we are surrounded by much more famous people and qualified mentors. I thought about it, and I suppose, to the outside world, my persona is one of “this woman has her life in order!” However, I was TERRIFIED.

And then it got me thinking, “Am I enough?"

I then thought, when I was a young adult, what did I want to hear?And you know what?

The theme hasn’t changed...

“Carpe Diem”, “seize the moment’ etc. etc.

And you think to yourself, all very good and well, but I (my family) don’t have the cash to allow me to study… or, although I tried my hardest, my grades aren’t enough.

But one thing stays the same right? You think, what if?

What if my parents had the cash?What if I studied harder?What if?

But, what if - NOTHING?

I asked the young crowd “Would you just say "forget it, I am not even going to try?"

The resounding feedback was “NO!" And due to the fact that they were all sitting in a school hall, on a Saturday, when they could be playing soccer or be with their friends, was an indication, that NO MATTER what their circumstances, they are going to give it a shot!

What I did that day, was be brutally honest. The youth see through fear, they see through adults standing on their podiums, dictating advice - they also however, can smell authenticity a mile away.

I recounted all my fears, and I told them my life story, my failures (there are many), success’s and a couple of life lessons.

The major take out for me, was that I was there that day to inspire them, but I walked away feeling inspired! Inspired about the future of South Africa and our future leaders. They are hungry, determined and ambitious. So with all this negativity in South Africa at the moment, I thought I would share my experience. In my opinion, the South African future is not only intact, but bright!